Bonkers Episode Guide
The format of this guide should be self-explanatory. I've tried to list the
episodes in the order of their original broadcast; if an episode debuted on The
Disney Channel, its original air dates on both TDC and in syndication are
listed. I've also provided data on the episodes' writers and the voice credits
(if known) of significant visiting characters.
The thoroughly subjective
ratings (on a scale of (1) to (4)) date from my hot off the screen impressions
of 1993-94. Quarrel or agree with them as you see fit.
1. Disney Channel Episodes (all with Miranda Wright)
TRAINS, TOONS, AND TOON TRAINS
2/28/93; 10/11/93 synd.
Writer:
Robert Schechter.
Bonkers and Miranda's train trip to The Pen with jewel thief Vic Stiff-Lips
Sullivan (William Callaway) is nearly sabotaged by psychotic dentist Peter
Blaine (Matt Frewer) and his henchwoman Helga (Linda Gary), who want to learn
the location of his jewel cache. Loco, a Toon locomotive, lends a hand (wheel?)
to our heroes. Very Roger Rabbit-like, especially where Loco is concerned; I
thought for sure we'd see these villains again.
(3)
TOKYO BONKERS
3/7/93; 10/18/93 synd.
Writers: Kevin Campbell
and Brian Swenlin.
Bonkers and Miranda transport imprisoned Transformer Robot Brain Z-Bot
(Robert Ridgely) back to Tokyo, but thanks to Bonkers, he gets loose. Bonkers
must ignore his dreams of renewed stardom in Toon-crazy Japan and use his Toon
brain to prove his worth to doubting Sergeant Tetsuo (Robert Ito, who else?) by
defeating Z-Bot. A marvelous send-up of Japanese Toonmania, The Transformers ,
Godzilla, and anything else that gets in the way (including poor, vacationing
Jitters). Love those Ninja Kitties!
(4)
THE STORK EXCHANGE
3/14/93; 10/25/93 synd.
Writer: Dev Ross.
Sleazy Lilith DuPrave (Eileen Brennan) kidnaps the storks who bring Toon
babies as part of a plot to smuggle a stolen weapon out of the country. Jitters
gets his most active role of the series as he plays stork decoy to help Bonkers
and Miranda uncover the plot. Nice running subplot with Bonkers quizzing Miranda
about where human babies come from.
(3)
BOBCAT FEVER
3/21/93; 10/6/93 synd.
Writers: John Behnke, Rob
Humphrey, and Jim Peterson.
Hammy, method-acting Toon microbe Cheryl Germ (Tress MacNeille) is persuaded
to infect Bonkers with Toon diseases by Toon mob boss Al Vermin (Robert
Ridgely). Prof. Ludwig von Drake, Toon antibody General Sneezekoff, and Miranda
help Bonkers ditch his bug and foil Vermin. A clever idea; the presence of
MacNeille in the key role certainly doesn't hurt.
(4)
THE TOON THAT ATE HOLLYWOOD
4/4/93; 10/13/93 synd.
Writers:
John Behnke, Rob Humphrey, and Jim Peterson.
Sourpuss clown Gloomy (Kenneth Mars) sucks the humor out of Toons, including
Bonkers. When the gadget overloads, it transforms into Toon monster Gagzilla.
Miranda thinks like a Toon and causes Gagzilla to self-destruct. Even for a Toon
rampage of doom, Gagzilla's destruction of Hollywood is unbelievable -- and that
climax! Gloomy is (unintentionally) funny, but he can't salvage this one. Listen
for the Goofy cameo.
(2)
WHEN THE SPIRIT MOVES YOU
4/11/93; 10/20/93 synd.
Writer:
Richard Stanley.
Dopey ghost Dobie (Neil Ross), a refugee from Lonesome Ghosts, haunts
the police station after Bonkers arrests him and brings him in. Von Drake's
Ghostbusting fails, and only a reenactment of Dobie's old 1930's cartoon can
convince him to haunt someplace else. Probably the worst of the Miranda
episodes, complete with an excruciatingly dated Ghostbusters parody. It wasn't
my SPIRIT that was moving after I watched this!
(1)
FISTFUL OF ANVILS
4/18/93; 10/27/93 synd.
Writers: John Behnke,
Rob Humphrey, and Jim Peterson.
Bonkers' version of the Darkwing Duck episode "Darkwing
Doubloon": in Bonkers' bedtime story to Miranda's little nephew Timmy (Dana
Hill), everyone in the cast is transported to the Western town of Anvil Gulch
for a battle between Trail-Mix Bonkers, Two-Gun Miranda, and Al Varmint to
decide the fate of the town's valuable anvil reservoir. The snap and pacing of
Doubloon aren't there, but the story is acceptably told.
(2)
WHAT YOU READ IS WHAT YOU GET
4/25/93; 10/7/93 synd.
Writer:
William Scherer.
Lilith DuPrave exploits Hildy, a magical Toon typewriter who makes all the
stories printed in DuPrave's NATIONAL TRASH tabloid come to life.
Tabloid-obsessed Bonkers and Miranda must battle an abominable snowman (Peter
Cullen), zombies, and other falsehoods manufactured by DuPrave in order to win
Hildy to the side of good. Fairly decent, despite the highly unconvincing dream
explanation for the surrealistic tabloid sequence.
(3)
TOON FOR A DAY
6/6/93; 10/22/93 synd.
Writers: John Behnke, Rob
Humphrey, and Jim Peterson.
Whoopity-whoo-whoo! When Sergeant Grating gets konked on the head, he thinks
he's Toon mayhem-maker Bucky Buzzsaw (Pat Fraley) -- just in time for his sworn
enemy, ruthless thug Wild Man Wyatt, to bust out of jail and seek revenge.
Bonkers and Miranda have to convince Kanifky that Grating hasn't gone insane,
and Grating has to stop Wyatt while thinking and acting like a Toon. Basically,
it's all an excuse to pull Grating completely out of character. At least you can
do it to him with some impunity, since he's the Tooniest of the humans in the
Miranda Bonkers cast.
(2)
2. Syndicated Episodes (Lucky Piquel, Part One)
GOING BONKERS/GONE BONKERS
Weekend of 9/4-5/93 for 1 hour pilot
version; 11/8-9/93 for 2-part version.
Writers: Marion Wells, John Behnke,
Rob Humphrey, and Jim Peterson.
Wackytoons star Bonkers D. Bobcat is fired by W. W. Wacky (David Doyle), gets
a job with the Hollywood P.D., and teams up with reluctant partner Lucky Piquel
to battle The Collector (Michael Bell), a human-disguised-as-a-Toon who's
laminating Toons for his private collection -- including Bonkers' friends. This
does exactly what a pilot should do, and comparatively little beyond, though
it's interesting to note that Kanifky seems almost competent in Part One. The
Collector, with his turnabout riff on Judge Doom of Who Framed Roger
Rabbit, and his weird assistant Mr. Doodles (Charlie Adler) steal the
show.
(3)
IN THE BAG
9/6/93
Writers: John Behnke, Rob Humphrey, and Jim
Peterson.
Someone's stealing the Mad Hatter and March Hare's tea cups, and other things
besides. As Piquel investigates, he has to contend with Bonkers' efforts to help
him get ready for the upcoming merit raise inspection . The thief turns out to
be a Toon handbag (Frank Welker), and the inspection is a sewer inspection,
which actually seems fitting in light of the episode's quality. Bad to the point
of total incoherence, despite some well-meaning attempts to put Chuck
Jones-style mannerisms on a more-taciturn-than-usual Piquel.
(1)
HEAR NO BONKERS, SEE NO BONKERS
9/7/93
Writer: Marion Wells.
Bonkers accidentally gets Lucky fired when the two partners stumble upon a
scam to make Toons vanish and extort money for them for the antidote. Needless
to say, Bonkers has to help Lucky catch the crooks and get his job back. Miranda
makes a deskbound cameo appearance in Kanifky's office, looking distraught; I
can't say I blame her. Only marginally better than "In the Bag". The crooked
TV-commercial director (Hamilton Camp) looks like a caricature of his voice
actor.
(1)
OUT OF SIGHT, OUT OF TOON
9/8/93
Writer: Jeff Saylor.
Lucky catches Bonkers' Toon flu and turns into a tiny green Toon. At least
they got the obligatory shrinking episode out of the way fairly quickly -- and
thanks to some funny bits with Kanifky, it's not all that bad.
(2)
IS TOON FUR REALLY WARM?
9/9/93
Writers: Bruce Talkington and
Richard Stanley.
Lucky promises Marilyn that her favorite Toon, Skunky Skunk (Scott Bullock),
will visit her birthday party, but instead Skunky's framed for murder by Mr.
McScam (Gregg Berger). Despite some strange details (an open-air coffin with
PADLOCKS??), some good dialogue and the presence of Marilyn make this a fair
success. Skunky Skunk is like Bullock's Ignatz Parrot (of Tale Spin's
"Polly Wants a Treasure") raised to the Nth power.
(3)
CALLING ALL CARS
9/10/93
Writer: David Titcher.
Toon tow truck Ma Parker (June Foray) lulls Piquel into inattentiveness with
her flattery, enabling her and her Toon boys (Rob Paulsen, Pat Fraley) to swipe
metal from stolen police cars and turn Ma into the ultimate monster truck .
Bonkers and an enlightened Lucky face off vs. Ma in the monster truck ring. With
the possible exception of "Comeback Kid", perhaps the ultimate example of Lucky
falling for an altogether obvious con game; the overall sense of embarrassment
is further heightened by some illogical plot points. When they showed clips of
this episode at June Foray's 1994 San Diego Comic-Con panel, June compared it
unfavorably to Rocky and Bullwinkle. Don't strain yourself, Ms.
Foray!
(2)
FALL APART BOMB SQUAD
9/13/93
Writers: Bruce Talkington and
Ralph Sanchez.
A crazy Toon Bomb (Jess Harnell) who wants to be a stand-up comic terrorizes
the city, and Lucky and Bonkers take the case with their new explosives expert,
Fall-Apart Rabbit. Manic, frantic, a little illogical in spots (practicing with
LIVE bombs?!), but possessing enough weird energy to be most enjoyable. Listen
carefully for the names of the winners of the Best Toon Walla.
(4)
IN TOONS WE TRUST
9/14/93
Writer: Laraine Ankow.
Bonkers tries to talk Lucky out of arresting his giant bird pal, Li'l Hubert,
for a string of jewel robberies, but Lucky ends up losing faith in his partner.
Bonkers manages to clear Hubert, restore his reputation with Lucky, and get back
his lost badge. One of the few episodes in which the partners' relationship is
the major focal point, but weakened by an erratic, jerky plot that accelerates
and decelerates like a Toon roller coaster, plus a fairly annoying Baby Huey
parody.
(2)
NEVER CRY PIG
9/15/93
Writers: John Behnke, Rob Humphrey, and
Jim Peterson.
The Three Big Pigs try to frame the Mean Ol' Wolf (Rodger Bumpass) for
blowing down the flimsy houses in their newest subdivision. Not as clever as Raw
Toonage 's spoof of the Disney classic, but competent enough; a parody of The
Defiant Ones (a la Gummi Bears' "For a Few Sovereigns More"), a
satirical reference to Nick at Nite, and Piquel's momentary acceptance of
a bribe (!) help to liven things up.
(3)
HAMSTER HOUSEGUEST
9/16/93
Writers: Ellen Svaco and Colleen
Taber.
Thanks to Bonkers, Piquel has to babysit Tiny (Charlie Adler), a giant Toon
hamster, who's being pursued by Mr. Big (Scott Bullock), the Toon mouse who used
to be his TV partner. Bonkers and Lucky have to stop the duo before they destroy
the city -- and try our patience beyond its limits. Tiny makes Li'l Hubert seem
like Clark Gable. Another situation in which we wish Lucky really WOULD wring
Bonkers' neck.
(1)
THE CHEAP SHEEP SWEEP
9/17/93
Writers: Steve Cuden, Steve
Sustarsic.
A Toon wolf (Brad Garrett) kidnaps hapless Toons and sells them on the market
as hideous novelty sheep. More attempts at detection than usual, though the
attempts aren't much to write home about; rivals "Fall Apart Bomb Squad" in its
exploration of the question "How dumb is Fall-Apart"?
(2)
THE DAY THE TOON STOOD STILL
9/20/93
Writer: Steve Cuden.
Pops Klock (Stuart Pankin), the keeper of Toon time, quits and pitches Toons
into chaos. The scene in which Fall-Apart and Bonkers start to fade back to the
drawing board actually has an edge to it, as does the episode as a whole.
(3)
WEATHER OR NOT
9/21/93
Writer: Dean Stefan.
Bonkers gets to imitate Inspector Clouseau, Jack Webb, Sherlock Holmes, and
Humphrey Bogart as he and Lucky investigate the disappearance of some popular TV
weather Toons. Forgettable but amusing.
(3)
BASIC SPRAINING
9/22/93
Writer: Kathryn Perdue.
Criminal Mackey McSlime (Peter Cullen, doing the sort of overbearing villain
he does so well) sets up a phony police academy to trap his vengeance-objects
Lucky and Bonkers. Our heroes have to cooperate as never before to survive, up
to the point of Lucky trusting Bonkers enough to pull him through a Toon tunnel.
The one episode in which the Lucky-Bonkers relationship actually matures and
progresses beyond the standard irritation/hero-worship; Bonkers' heartfelt
"Trust me!" is an emotional high point of the series.
(4)
ONCE IN A BLUE TOON
9/23/93
Writer: Steve Sustarsic.
Lucky and Bonkers try to reform the unreformable Toon Louse (Brad Garrett),
and the effort ends up driving Lucky insane (a la Pete in a number of Goof
Troop episodes). If you can't feel sorry for Piquel after this, YOU must be
a Louse.
(2)
LUNA-TOONS
9/24/93
Writer: Ralph Sanchez.
When cute alien Quark (Frank Welker) invades the Earth, he's mistaken for a
Toon. Inexplicably, Quark is left on Earth at the end of the episode, with no
effort to write him out of the series -- and he never appears again! I have a
theory that this was an attempt to salvage a little something from the
announced, but apparently busted, series concept Quarks, which was
supposedly to be produced in the mid-90's. I think they were being overly
generous.
(2)
TIME WOUNDS ALL HEELS
9/27/93
Writer: Steve Sustarsic.
Bonkers meets Cape Fear: sinister parolee Max Coody (Jack
Angel) is apparently stalking a frantic Piquel, who sent him up the river back
in the 70's, and Lucky tries to evade him in a swamp. It turns out that all
Coody wanted to do was to thank Lucky for showing him that crime doesn't pay.
Some very funny ideas, especially the notion of a 70's Piquel dropping slang
like You're not bein' very groovy, man! but looking pretty much the same (a la
the flashback Homer Simpson), and Angel gives a super performance as the deadpan
Coody, but I'm not sure if Lucky is THAT much of a coward.
(3)
POLTERTOON
9/28/93
Writer: Laraine Arkow.
Elmo (Frank Welker), a Groucho-like Toon ghost, moves into the Piquel house
on the night Chief and Mrs. Kanifky come to dinner. Yes, they do another parody
of Ghostbusters along the way, while Bonkers seems to hang onto poor
Lucky like a leech (particularly in the first part of the episode). Rock bottom;
a big part for Marilyn and Welker's Groucho imitation go for naught.
(1)
HAND OVER THE DOUGH
9/29/93
Writer: Carl Swenson.
As Lucky suffers through an attempt to lose weight, he and Bonkers have to
investigate sabotage at Gentle Ben Butterman's (Frank Welker) bakeries.
Butterman's smarmy spokesToon Mikey Muffin (Scott Bullock) is the culprit.
Almost too many logical lapses to count, and for added enjoyment, there's a
tired conveyor belt rescue scene climax that s lifted bodily from the Chip
and Dale's Rescue Rangers episode "Mind Your Cheese and Q's".
(1)
THE RUBBER ROOM SONG (plus three)
9/30/93
The first Raw Toonage compilation episode: the title routine (lifted
from "Casabonkers", complete with a quick glimpse of Miranda), followed by the
He's Bonkers shorts "Ski Patrol", "Bonkers in Space", and "Draining Cats
and Dogs". Uhh...Fawn Deer sure looks good in a tight spacesuit, doesn't
she?
(No rating -- what's there to rate??)
TUNE PIG
10/1/93
Writers: Bruce Talkington and Fred Lucky.
Sleazy, chair-riding lounge lizard singer Julio Calamari (Michael Bell)
kidnaps Toon pig Charlie (Jess Harnell) and forces him to be his voice. To
complicate the partners' investigation, Dil Piquel is a huge Calamari fan, and
she's got an after-concert dinner with him. Incredibly shoddy animation (thank
you, Kennedy Cartoons) almost sinks this effort, but not quite; the amusing
Calamari, an intriguingly cockeyed premise, an unusually large (and slightly
Toony) role for Dil, and Cummings' purposefully bad singing as Lucky combine to
make it a more-than-watchable experience.
(3)
3. Syndicated Episodes (all with Miranda Wright)
NEW PARTNERS ON THE BLOCK
10/4/93
Writer: Marion Wells.
Fume if you like at the ultimately baneful influence of this hook-up episode,
but it's still one of the sprightliest and funniest of all Bonkerstales,
overcoming its indifferent animation with sheer, unadulterated energy. In the
course of combating chili-pepper-chomping Fireball Frank (Brad Garrett), Bonkers
teams up with Miranda Wright, and Lucky somehow impresses taciturn Agent Tolson
(Rodger Bumpass) enough to wangle a job with the FBI. Writing Toots, Fall-Apart
and Broderick the Toon CB out of the Miranda scenario might have been a small
bit of overkill.
(4)
WITLESS FOR THE PROSECUTION
10/5/93
Writers: Richard Stanley and
Len Uhley.
Miranda witnesses a crime committed by Lilith DuPrave and must hide out at
Bonkers' apartment until the trial. And I thought DuPrave was the one who
deserved to be punished. Like "The Day the Toon Stood Still", this tale has a
distinctly serious edge to it; Miranda reams out the hyper Bonkers and Grumbles
for endangering her, and DuPrave's goon Mr. Blackenblue (Maurice LaMarche)
shoots out her car window. Features the series' most legitimate chase
sequence.
(3)
DO TOONS DREAM OF ANIMATED SHEEP?
10/8/93
Writer: Marlowe
Weisman.
Toon sheep Baabra (Louise Duart), a wisecracker with a heart like Darkwing
Duck's Neptunia, steals Bonkers' dreams in order to enjoy some dreams of her
own. Through the mediation of Von Drake's dream projector, Baabra travels from
dreamer to dreamer, ending up in Miranda's coffee-and-donuts-filled dream.
Bonkers must enter his partner's dream in order to get his own dreams back.
Extremely clever and imaginative, though a little diffuse at times; cameos and
parodies include Darkwing Duck, Ferdinand the Bull, the Mary Poppins
carousel horse race, and that long-time Disney TV parodee, The Wizard of
Oz.
(3)
QUIBBLING RIVALRY
10/12/93
Writer: Len Uhley.
Bonkers is ready to quit the force after Miranda's cocky newshound sister
Shirley (Erin Gray) exposes his destructive tendencies during her TV feature on
Toons. It doesn't really matter how many times Bonkers and Miranda conveniently
ran into that little old lady (Pat Musick) and her lousy cat; in no other
episode of the series is the bobcat so wholly sympathetic, and in no other
Miranda episode are Miranda's emotions and self-esteem put to such a test. A
marvelous episode, and one that makes one seriously wonder how good the series
could have been had the proponents of wacky Toon humor not carried the
day.
(4)
SPRINGTIME FOR THE IGUANA
10/14/93
Writer: Robert Schechter.
Bonkers' pompous "actohr" bud, Roderick Lizzard (Jeff Bennett), stoops to
taking a monster role in a live-action film. After Rod's framed as a firebug by
his rival for the part, Crunchy Potato Chip (Robert Costanzo), Bonkers must help
him clear his name. More bizarre than truly great, but a nice showcase for
Roderick.
(3)
CASABONKERS
10/15/93
Writers: Kevin Campbell and Brian Swenlin.
I haven't seen Casablanca, so a lot of the jokes probably fly over my
head, but this goofy dust-up between Bonkers, Flaps the elephant gangster (Joe
Alaskey), and Bonkers' sexy ex-flame Katya Leggsgowannalot (Sherry Lynn) over
the legendary flying Circle Beanie can be fully enjoyed by ANYONE as good, clean
Toon fun.
(4)
LOVE STUCK
10/19/93
Writers: Libby Hinson and Jordana Arkin.
While investigating the kidnapping of male contestants from Boss Hoss'
(Sorrell Booke) Western-themed dating show, Bonkers contrives to fall in love
with a human bachelorette, Rita (Pamela Hayden). He goes undercover as "Love
Desperado #3" to investigate the culprit, nebbishy but self-possessed porcupine
Winston Prickly, whose amusingly-realized persona almost singlehandedly saves
this ill-considered episode from disaster.
(2)
OF MICE AND MENACE
10/21/93
Writer: Marlowe Weisman.
Flaps and his trio of Toon henchmice swipe Dumbo's flag so that Flaps can
realize his dream and fly. Instead, the uninvolving subplot of Bonkers adopting
the abandoned mice as pets flutters around aimlessly like a confused butterfly.
Timothy Q. Mouse has absolutely nothing to worry about.
(2)
DOG DAY AFTERTOON
10/26/93
Writer: Richard Stanley.
After short-fused Toon pit bull Pitts (Hamilton Camp) gets fired from The
Pitts and Smarts Show, he freaks out and holds Grating and Miranda hostage
in the bank holding the show's account. Bonkers-led negotiations, including an
appeal by Smarts (La Marche, in a complete waste of his well-known "Bing Crosby"
persona), lead to a phony getaway in a Toon gas truck (Corey Burton as Hans
Conried) driven by Jitters. How they could have botched a spoof of such an
eminently parodiable movie is one of those little Bonkers mysteries; they
even forgot to trash Jitters. The opening Pitts and Smarts cartoon
sequence goes on entirely too long and is thunderously unfunny.
(2)
THE 29th PAGE
10/28/93
Writer: Shari Goodhartz.
The series' most-successfully-realized detective story, this also stands as
Al Vermin's official first appearance. The title phrase, spoken by Vermin's
cocooning Caterpillar stoolie, is the only clue to the location of the hidden
vault of Barbarian Barlowe. The key to the treasure turns out to be located on
page 29 of Barlowe's book of poetry, which (gosh all fishhooks!) just happens to
be Bonkers' latest enthusiastic obsession. Most engagingly told, with Grating's
behavior at the end his best true good guy moment of the series.
(4)
CARTOON CORNERED
10/29/93
Writer: Steve Cuden.
On a visit to Wackytoons Studio, Toon-hating Grating is trapped in the
studio's bizarre Toon milieu by Bucky Buzzsaw. As if that weren't bad enough,
Grating's nemesis, Wild Man Wyatt, is on the loose once again. Could be styled
Grating's Toon breakthrough episode, except that the Sarge never got a chance to
progress further than this first connection with a cute Toon Alarm Clock.
(3)
4. Syndicated Episodes (all with Lucky Piquel)
THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE KANIFKY
11/1/93
Writer: Ralph
Sanchez.
The Mayor (Don Messick) demotes Kanifky, who becomes Bonkers and Piquel's
partner during their pursuit of Scatter Squirrel (Tino Insana). Not as
unendurable as one might expect an episode focusing on the Kanifster to be,
though the Chief's backstory completely contradicts the flashback in the earlier
"Time Wounds All Heels".
(2)
I OUGHTA BE IN TOONS
11/2/93
Writers: Richard Stanley and Bruce
Talkington.
M***** M****, aka the most famous Toon in the world , replaced by a human
wannabee in a rat suit (Brad Garrett) by conniving Mr. Corkscrew (Gregg Berger),
with Lucky's unwitting assistance?? Not if M*****-admiring Bonkers has anything
to say about it. Though much panned in some quarters for the "ridiculous
reverence" with which the heard-but-not-seen You-Know-Who is treated, this is
actually a pretty decent parody of the cutthroat Hollywood world.
(3)
FRAME THAT TOON
11/3/93
Writers: Ellen Svaco and Colleen Taber.
When Lucky foregoes a big tourist-robberies case to help Bonkers help a young
Toon saxophone (Cree Summer) find her missing brother (Dorian Harewood), he
finds that the two cases are unexpectedly connected. Bonkers narrates, a la
Bogie or Jack Webb; despite the jarring, Warners-ripoff film gag at the end, he
has a fairly interesting tale to spin. The episode could have benefited from
better animation, as well as some tighter editing in the overly-long "Bonkers
and Lucky try to crash The Silver Note"sequence.
(3)
A WOOLY BULLY
11/4/93
Writer: Gary Sperling.
An out-of-work Toon superhero, Mammoth Mammoth (Stuart Pankin), goes on a
crime spree, and Bonkers and Lucky must corral him while fighting to overcome
Bonkers' latest obsession, an "efficiency" kick. A familiar idea, handled
without a great deal of spirit or imagination; Kanifky is even further out of
touch than usual with his "spot definitions of words".
(2)
STAY TOONED
11/5/93
Writer: Jeff Saylor.
Bonkers suspects EVERYONE of theft after a valuable piece of evidence gets
lost (thanks to him). This deserves a few points simply because Lucky gets to
trash Bonkers (in perhaps his most annoying role of the Piquel regime) at the
end. And I'm not being unfair; he really deserves it this time!
(3)
O CARTOON! MY CARTOON!
11/10/93
Writer: Gordon Kent.
Raw Toonage Salvage Job #2: "Spatula Party", "Sheerluck Bonkers", and
"Get Me a Pizza (Hold the Minefield)" (the infamous World War I pizza-delivery
short) surround a rather feeble attempt to capture some "Bullwinkle's
Corner"-style magic, in which Fall-Apart acts out Bonkers' recitation of his own
version of the Whitman poem.
(No rating)
COLOR ME PIQUEL
11/11/93
Writers: Mark Zaslove and Bruce
Talkington.
Squash and Stretch, a pair of black-and-white Toons, steal color from other
Toons in order to colorize themselves. A legitimately clever idea -- and a
fitting subject for some truly stinging satire -- runs aground on the shoals of
a (literally) pale attempt to revive the "Lucky discovers the advantages of Toon
logic" theme of Basic Spraining and an inadequate development of Squash and
Stretch's personalities. The pizza arc with Fall-Apart makes no sense
whatsoever. A real disappointment from two of the leading creative lights of the
DTVA glory days.
(2)
STAND-IN DAD
11/12/93
Writer: Kathryn Perdue.
When Lucky goes undercover as Grandpa Arnie, Marilyn's favorite
TV-kiddie-show host, he learns that Marilyn feels neglected and betrayed by her
father. Despite a humiliating role and the inevitable "I can't get my costume
off" routine, Lucky manages to bond with his daughter and nab nickel-nutty
scamster Two-Bits (Gilbert Gottfried) at the same time. This episode is
justifiably praised as one of Lucky's most significant humanizing
moments.
(4)
CEREAL SURREAL
11/15/93
Writer: Dean Stefan.
Snap, Sniffle, and Flop, a trio of veteran cereal spokesToons, are framed by
a smarmy trio of younger, hipper sprites who want their jobs. Lucky and Bonkers'
investigation of some cereal-prize thefts leads them into the thick of the scam.
Though several other fans have praised this episode's wild humor, I find it to
be somewhat overburdened with unfunny set pieces, saddled with a
more-whiny-than-usual Bonkers, and enleadened by that sure sign of a lack of
inspiration, a contrived conveyor belt rescue sequence that goes on entirely too
long.
(2)
IF
11/16/93
Writer: Gordon Kent.
Salvage Job #3: once again, Bonkers tries (and fails) to revive the spirit of
"Bullwinkle's Corner", with Jitters illustrating Bonkers' recitation of the
Kipling poem. The Raw Toonage material consists of "Petal to the Metal",
"Dogzapoppin", and "Trail Mix Bonkers".
(No rating)
THE DIMMING
11/17/93
Writer: Dean Stefan.
Piquel spends his vacation as the caretaker of a remote ski lodge, so that
he'll have the time to finish his horror novel. He ends up running into trouble
in the form of a visiting Kanifky and yet another wacky Toon ghost (Frank
Welker). Lucky's stress level certainly makes him a reasonable candidate to fill
the Jack Nicholson role in this parody of The Shining, but that doesn't
mean it's an advisable idea to once again make him an undeserving scapegoat.
It's unclear exactly why the gabby Toon Grapevine accompanies Fall-Apart to the
hotel; perhaps Fall-Apart took the "Concord" part of the way?
(2)
TOON WITH NO NAME
11/18/93
Writer: Steve Cuden.
The cast members of a "Wild West" cartoon Bonkers once made are disappearing
one by one. Bonkers spices the investigation with a bit-by-bit recounting of the
cartoon's plot to Piquel. The energy level is high, and the episode has more
than its share of legitimately funny lines (not to mention the series' best
encapsulation of Fall-Apart's uniquely sideways logic), but the effect is flawed
by an incredible number of animation flubs (such as Bonkers speaking in
Fall-Apart's voice and Toots' cowboy hat appearing and disappearing), plus YET
ANOTHER conveyor belt rescue scene. The kind of episode where you end up
gritting your teeth at obvious mistakes that would never have been made had
Bonkers' production process not been so slapdash.
(3)
GET WACKY
11/19/93
Writer: Richard Stanley.
An all-too-rare attempt to reach back to the more-restrained spirit of the
Miranda episodes. Infamous Toon crook Wacky Weasel (Rip Taylor) has escaped the
pen and is causing chaos; Lucky and Bonkers' straightforward assignment is to
bring him to justice. Wacky occasionally gets on the nerves, but he's the kind
of nervy Toon nogoodnik who makes Bonkers' use of his Tooniness for good seem
admirable by contrast. Broderick and his reformed Toon scanner cousin Roderick
(Jim Cummings) get a surprisingly large amount of air time. Biggest negative:
the iris-out gag with Lucky tends to undercut the stated theme of "reality vs.
cartoons".
(3)
THE FINAL REVIEW
11/22/93
Writers: John Behnke, Rob Humphrey,
and Jim Peterson.
Bonkers and Piquel must protect TV critic Charles Quibble (Scott Bullock), a
consummate jerk, from an assassin, even as Bonkers drives Lucky nuts with his
constant emulation of Eastwood-clone TV star T. J. Finger (Danny Ferro).
Execrable animation from ever-popular Kennedy Cartoons makes a hash out of what
is actually a halfway-decent writing job. There's additional intrigue for DTVA
fans in the fact that Quibble just may be a parody of Disney Afternoon-bashing
animation critic Charles Solomon.
(2)
GOLDIJITTERS AND THE THREE BOBCATS
11/24/93
Writer: Gordon Kent.
With Salvage Job #4, the Bonkers material from Raw Toonage (here,
"Quest for Firewood", "Gobble Gobble Bonkers", and "Get Me to the Church on
Time") finally runs out. Mercifully, with a Goldilocks parody that gives the
venerable fairy tale more than a few compound "Fractures", so do Bonkers'
attempts to do Rocky and Bullwinkle-style humor.
(No rating)
SEEMS LIKE OLD TOONS
11/26/93
Writers: Wayne Levi and Dean
Stefan.
At Toon Camp, Marilyn and her Toon Pencil pal (who speaks for the first time,
in the voice of Jack Angel), along with Lucky and Bonkers, must help Flugel
Studios stars Beezle, Buzzle, and Grumps (Ed Asner) make a final cartoon before
their studio is torn down. Probably the series' least-acceptable twist on the
Toons as actors concept; if Flugel cartoons are indeed done "the old-fashioned
way...frame by frame", then how can the Flugel stars exist independent of this
process, and why are they shown acting inside a movie screen? Then, when you
consider the fact that Pelican (Gregg Berger) of Pelican Express is a
half-hearted ripoff of Launchpad McQuack...
(1)
MIRACLE AT THE 34th PRECINCT
11/27/93
Writer: Ralph Sanchez.
When Santa Claus (Hal Smith) is reported lost in a storm, his slightly
cynical elves Jingle and Belle (Beau Weaver, Katie Leigh) select Lucky as
Santa's stand-in. Lucky bungles, as expected, but ultimately succeeds in proving
that "yes, Marilyn, there IS a Santa Claus". A real mixed bag, just like
Santa's; the Claus-training gags are generally decent, but Fall-Apart's
befriending and subsequent abuse of the amnesiac Santa is not. Above-average
animation from Kennedy Cartoons, though.
(3)
COMEBACK KID
11/29/93
Writers: Gary Sperling, John Behnke, Rob
Humphrey, and Jim Peterson.
Toon rooster Chick (Chick Vennera) and his bovine sidekick Stew (Tino Insana)
con clueless Bonkers into directing incredibly clueless Lucky in a movie that's
a cover for their theft of a diamond. Imagine the DuckTales episode "Hero
for Hire" written by the main characters of Dumb and Dumber, and you can
conceive a tiny part of the exquisite pain wrought by this embarrassingly inept
excuse for an episode, which gets my symbolic thumb and forefinger clenching the
nose as Bonkers' worst. "Put Lucky in nutty costumes" and "make Lucky a
total dupe and buffoon" raised to a veritable art form (if that's the proper
term).
(1)
THE GREATEST STORY NEVER TOLD
2/7/94
Writers: David Titcher, Dev
Ross, and Laraine Arkow.
Toon camera Zoom (Rob Paulsen) and Toon microphone Big Boom (Pat Fraley)
frame Lucky for robbery in the course of exploiting him for their TV show,
Cops R Us. Fairly standard "Piquel-the-dupe" shenanigans, serving merely
to wash the unpleasant taste of Comeback Kid from one's mouth and give
Bonkers ' favorite subgenre SOME minimal degree of renewed
dignity.
(2)
FALL-APART LAND
2/9/94
Writer: Bruce Talkington.
Lucky and Fall-Apart pursue the dream of running their own theme park, and
it's up to sensible (!?!) Bonkers to help them from being taken by a crooked
real-estate agent and his equally sleazy Toon limousine. The turnabout "Bonkers
shows responsibility for Lucky" notion and the ending gag about being arrested
for running a theme park without a Mouse have their partisans; I think it'd be
easier to sell me a theme park than to get me to agree.
(1)
IMAGINE THAT
2/14/94
Writer: Jeff Saylor.
Marilyn pursues a graffiti-spreading Dirty Toon Pencil (Scott Bullock) into a
surreal Toon world, and her loving Dad Lucky must follow. Marilyn shows the
strength of her uncomplicated but thoroughly admirable character by
straightforwardly convincing the Pencil to reform. This much-praised "Lucky in
Wackyland" tale pulls heart-strings to extremely good effect and gives Lucky
something truly constructive to do for a change. A series high point for both
Lucky and Marilyn, and the series' last real moment of glory.
(4)
A FINE KETTLE OF TOONS
2/17/94
Writers: Steve Cuden and Jeff
Saylor.
Any connection between the adjective "Fine" and an episode teaming up Kanifky
and Fall-Apart is entirely fictitious. Especially when the reason for the teamup
is to spy on Lucky and Bonkers for possible goldbricking, when in fact Piquel is
planning a surprise party to celebrate the Chief's 40th anniversary on the
force. A lonely highlight here is Mark Hamill's first voicing assignment for a
Disney Afternoon series.
(1)
STRESSED TO KILL
2/23/94
Writer: Robert Schechter.
Lucky suffers from some major-league stress in trying to chase down an art
thief (John Astin). Locked in an isolation chamber in an attempt to alleviate
his problem, Lucky reverts to a primitive state when he's left inside far longer
than he should be. The series' last episode is pleasant enough and features an
unexpected return by Miranda regular Ludwig Von Drake, but it'd be a stretch to
call it an unqualified success.
(2)
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